LOCAL YOKEL YODELER
Springfield resident and occasional Illinois Times contributor Randy
Erwin Skalicky will be heard on the big screen this weekend in the new Disney
musical, Home on the Range. The plot centers around a trio of bovine
bounty hunters trying to capture cattle rustler Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid).
Slim’s secret weapon is his virtuosic yodel, which has the power to hypnotize
an entire herd of cows. Of course, Quaid himself can’t yodel, so that’s where
our local yokel comes in: Skalicky’s job could be described as stunt yodeler
for Quaid.
He won the role after all the famous yodelers had failed to meet the expectations
of Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who can be seen on Disney’s “behind the
scenes” video dancing a jig in the recording studio as Skalicky yodels.
In a recent Chicago Tribune article, Menken said Skalicky “came in
and kicked butt.”
WORTHY CAUSE NO. 1
Here’s your chance to give our favorite drag queen the support she needs at
an upcoming beauty pageant. No, not another girdle. It’s a fundraiser Saturday
night at the Station House, 306 E. Washington St. All performers will be donating
their tips to help Illinois Times’ Feb. 12 cover girl Mahogany Knight
compete for the national title of Miss Continental Plus later this month in
Chicago. The show starts around 11 p.m. Now that’s putting the fun in fundraiser.
WORTHY CAUSE NO. 2
Mayor Tim Davlin hosts a fundraiser on Monday, April 5, to raise money
to restore a recently discovered 1876 Springfield map. The event’s at The Pasfield
House, 525 S. Pasfield St., from 5-7 p.m. Tickets, available at the door, are
$25. Make checks payable to the Lincoln Library Foundation.
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2004.
